Systems have been proposed to reduce the severity of injuries suffered by pedestrians when struck by a moving motor vehicle. Some such systems are referred to as “active,” meaning that some action, response, or change is made to a portion or system of the vehicle in response to (or in anticipation of) striking the pedestrian. Examples of such active systems include bumper- or hood-mounted airbags and hood-lifting systems. Such active systems generally require some type of sensor or detection system to determine that a pedestrian impact has occurred or is about to occur.
A pedestrian impact detector should detect an impact occurring at any lateral location across the front end of the vehicle. It may also be advantageous to detect the lateral (left/right) location on the vehicle at which the pedestrian impact takes place.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,782,180B2 teaches a collision detection device installed in a bumper of an automotive vehicle that includes two deformable members each with a pressure sensor contained therein. The deformable members are arranged across the front end of the bumper so that each one covers approximately one-half of the width of the vehicle.